Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat ready for final stretch before playoffs

It has been a long, grueling journey, the road defeats against the Sacramento Kings and Utah Jazz, the six-game trip that began with losses to the New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets and ended with one to the Atlanta Hawks, and, now, these latest Texas stumbles against the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs.

But after Sunday's nationally televised game in Chicago, it takes a decided turn for the better for the Miami Heat, now five weeks from the regular-season finish line, with 13 remaining home games and just nine on the road, the lone remaining Western Conference road game a relatively short up-and-back to Memphis.

The remaining schedule, of course, also is favorable for the Indiana Pacers, who, after Sunday's road game against the Dallas Mavericks, have 11 remaining at home and eight on the road.

Yet amid this season-long crusade by Frank Vogel for the top seed in the East, the Heat find themselves after the trade deadline, after the buyout deadline, close enough that the two remaining games against the Pacers could become winner-take-all, with the season series currently 1-1.

"I think Miami's not thinking at all about Indiana," he said this past week. "I don't think Miami's thinking about Indiana . . . they think this championship is theirs."

Advertisement

No, the arrogance is not quite that complete. And there is concern about the lackadaisical starts these past two games in Houston and San Antonio. But there remains a sense that the Heat are saving their best for last, a sense not quite as prevalent for a Pacers team, at this late hour, attempting to integrate Evan Turner and Andrew Bynum.

"Whatever happens in the regular season for the Miami Heat, they don't worry because no one has proven that they can beat them over a 10-day stretch," TNT's Kenny Smith said of the two-time defending champions. "They're right where they need to be . . . and they have one thing that everyone else doesn't have, the atomic bomb. They have LeBron James, and at any time it could detonate and blow up the whole city."

Following last Monday's 61-point outburst, there mostly has been fizzle from James. But that's a lesson, as well, that the Heat can't push too hard if they expect every-game heroics.

Until now, playing for homecourt in the Eastern Conference finals has been an abstract for the Heat. But the reality is any team would prefer to be home on June 1.

The key is not turning it into a crusade.

"This thing is going to come down to the wire," TNT's Charles Barkley said. "The Indiana Pacers made a big mistake being concerned about homecourt advantage. If you're going to win the championship, you're going to have to win on the road.

"They have to start playing better, interject Andrew Bynum and Evan Turner in some capacity and get back to playing Pacers basketball."

The same could be said about the Heat, and their identity, after the uneven showings in Houston and San Antonio.

Three-quarters of the season are just about in the books. Now it becomes real for both the Heat and Pacers, a quarter of the season left to decide who hosts the first playoff game scheduled for June.

"You better be worried about Indiana," Barkley said. "They're not going anywhere. They're going to be (in the Eastern Conference finals). There's no one else in the conversation in the Eastern Conference. Those two teams are going to have a knockdown, drag-out fight."

One, if could be argued, that begins now.

In the lane

MEASURED MINUTES: Heat President Pat Riley said credit for Greg Oden's comeback goes beyond just the center's work ethic and drive to make it back from more than four years out of the league. "I think our training staff has done an incredible job of getting, through trial and error, of exactly how many minutes he can play, what his knee feels like the next day," Riley said. "He's gone through a lot and I just cross my fingers and knock on wood every day that he stays healthy. And if he does, he's going to get better. And if he gets better, then we're going to be better. That's why we brought him in."

ONE OF THOSE NIGHTS: In retrospect, Charlotte Bobcats coach Steve Clifford said if there was anyone to take the defensive blame for LeBron James' 61-point game last Monday, it was him, not primary defenders Michael Kidd-Gilchrist or Anthony Tolliver. "He was in the pick-and-roll most of the time, which is where most of his baskets happened," Clifford told the Charlotte Observer at the Bobcats' shootaround two days later. "As the ball was released, if you stopped (the video and said, 'Can we live with that shot?' you'd realize MKG and Tolliver did a good job. If there's somebody who could be blamed for that, then blame me. We did change our coverages somewhat. You could have flat-out doubled him, but then they would have scored 150." The Heat won 124-107.

LOSING OUT: It has been a week since the NBA's buyout deadline, with the Heat going 0 for 2 with Danny Granger and Caron Butler. In his introductory media session with the Los Angeles Clippers, Granger said playing for Doc Rivers swayed his decision, although he said there also was respect for Erik Spoelstra. "Number one," he said. "I've always like the style that Doc coaches. I'm not saying I don't like Pop (Gregg Popovich)'s style or Spo's style. I just think this team, I can have the biggest impact, and feel like they've got a role." Which is sort of how it's playing out for Butler with the Oklahoma City Thunder, going 29 and 26 minutes in his first two appearances, minutes that likely would not have been available in the Heat rotation. "I'm finding out where opportunity is at," Butler said of playing alongside Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.

AGREED: It certainly did come off as odd that now, in the heat of the playoff-seeding race, Pacers forward Paul George would mention a desire to be mentored by James. Charles Barkley certainly thinks so. "Paul George, I like you," Barkley said on TNT's Thursday pregame show. "You're a great player, but you can't say you want to be mentored by LeBron James. That's wrong. I love Michael Jordan like a brother, but I would never ask him for advice on how to beat him. Same with Larry Bird. I admire and respect him, so I would never ask him for advice. You should want to beat your friends more than anybody."